Perhaps you’ve piled on the pounds in weight over the Christmas holidays and want to shed them in the New Year.

Or you are determined to train for a charity fundraising event such as a half-marathon or simple fun run.

If you don’t want to spend too many pounds sterling on the process then you’ve come to the right place - on most of the sites it takes a lot of digging to find the prices which then makes comparing like with like rather tricky, even within the same company.

Our guide to many of the leading gyms, leisure centres and more will help you to choose the one which suits you best at the right price.

Some gyms within a group can have wildly differing prices

The rest, then, is up to you.

No sweat!

Please note: these prices were being advertised online on December 19, 2016. Some prices may increase in the New Year. Double check with all operators.

Pure Gym

Pure Gym, Gravelly Lane in Sutton Coldfield

This company promises ‘No contract. No catch’ at the former LA Fitness site and so in common with the company’s other sites in the group you can cancel at any time.

This gives you unrestricted gym access, no fixed contract, 50+ free classes per week bookable eight days in advance and multiple gym access (starting from £2).

Pay £24.99 a month for the ‘Extra’ rate, and you can book classes 14 days ahead, visit 133 gyms, freeze your membership for free and have free access for a friend on four occasions per month only at the same time as the Extra member).

Unlike many of other Pure Gym sites, there is no off-peak rate here.

Pure Gym

Try before you buy

A one day pass at Sutton Coldfield is £6.99; three days £13.99, seven days £17.99, 30 days £29.99, nine months membership is £188.99 or for 12 months it’s £223.99.

Deal rates available if you have a promo code or referral code.

What do I get?

Large weights area, choice of 50 free classes, online training and nutrition guides. Special attraction: kettlebells, which are like wonky dumbbells. The fun begins when you start swinging them around!

The Pure Gym app enables you to book classes and scan the QR codes on gym equipment to watch videos explaining how to use them.

Across the road from Snow Hill Railway Station. PureGym members are eligible for cheaper parking at the Royal Angus NCP. Members can park for £3 for 2 hours which is reduced from £7. To do this, you need to obtain a ParkPass from www.ncp.co.uk/ncpparkpassregister.

Nuffield Health - Five Ways

This has an extensive gym area and 20-metre swimming pool plus free parking.

Run by Nuffield Health, they also have on-site access to specialist fitness teams, personal trainers, and even free monthly Meet our Experts health seminar events covering topics like stress, sleep and back pain and there is access to physiotherapists, swimming instructors and personal trainers.

Birmingham Central Gym offers a range of membership options, all which include two free Health MOTs with a personal trainer and personalised exercise programme.

Membership starts at £43 per month for a 12-month contract, the same price as a year ago, but you can also try it free for a day.

The Gym

Open 24/7 on a non-contract basis, The Gym Birmingham is now offering members two hours free parking at Edgbaston Street car park near The Bullring from Sunday to Friday, 5:30am-midnight.

Tour the world on one of six Myride® indoor virtual bikes or there are 28 exercise bikes as well as lots of other equipment including 52 running machines and other cardiovascular machines.

Myride is billed as “an immersive, high-resolution fitness adventure: the most challenging road races at a level to suit you, with thousands of preset challenges, stacks of music and over a million studio and real footage workouts.”

Solo membership here is £14.99 per month plus £20 joining fee (£15.99 including access to a second gym) or you can get a day pass for £7.99.

Every Gym is monitored via extensive CCTV coverage 24/7 with direct links to the emergency services.

You’ll need a padlock for your locker, so either take your own or buy one from the vending machine for £4.

Your full membership includes unlimited gym use, free induction, free programmes with an instructor, unlimited classes, unlimited use to all public swimming and health suite usage. Also available is social tennis. £39.50 per month on a monthly membership, or £421.20 per year.

Swim membership: 12 months at £23 per month.

Gym usually open 6.30am-10pm weekdays and 8am-6pm weekends; swimming 7am-8pm Monday and Thursday-Friday; 7am-7.30pm on Tuesday; 7am-10pm on Wednesday; 9.30am-5pm on Saturday and 8am-5pm on Sunday.

Membership prices are not published online – bizarrely, you have to register your interest and wait for them to get back to you, or fill in the forms to become a member when you will get the prices at the end of the process.

This reveals that the top-end, all inclusive membership for a single site (i.e. Harborne) within the group is £359.90 per year (initial fee £25), with the price going up to £590 if you want to use more than one site - even though the nearest ones to Harborne are West Bromwich Moor Street B70 7AZ (0121 580 6430) and Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre, Planetary Road WV13 3SW (01902 384777).

Monthly direct debits are £35.99 per month – or £59 for the group multi-site.

Swimming membership at Harborne is 'no more than £21 per month' according to a telephone sales girl, but in order to sign up you will be invited to the centre 'for analysis' so that staff can show you round first.

The gym has just been refurbished with work completed in December, 2016.

There is now a greater sense of space when you enter and the free weights area has been improved. There are three new functional training areas along with a resistance room and a new group cycling studio.

The gym is open from 6am-9.45pm weekdays and 7am-6pm weekends.

To discover the complex swimming times for everything from lane swimming to all welcome sessions, adult lane swimming, family swim, splash session, pool party hire and aqua fit etc. you have to find the swim section online and then click through every day.

Getting fit at the gym

Local authority centres

Most Birmingham City Council run sports facilities can be used just by turning up and paying.

But a Leisure Card is needed to use a council run gym or to attend an instructed course.

It also lets you book courts and activities up to seven days ahead, but you must pay for the court or activity at the time of booking.

You will collect a loyalty point for every £1 you spend which you can later use to pay for certain leisure activities.

An eight-day Advance card costs £16 for 12 months and will let you pay for a court of activity when you arrive.

You can apply for a Leisure Card and an Eight Day Advance card at the same time.

A Passport to Leisure (PTL) card gives you up to 20 per cent off most activities at council-run leisure centres, Wellbeing Centres and swimming pools. It also offers discounts at some museums, theatres and other attractions in Birmingham.

PTL cards are available for asylum seekers, carers, full-time students, a child in care, people receiving certain types of benefits (ask at your local leisure centre) or if you are aged 60 or over.

You can also apply for a card if you have a disability and are receiving incapacity benefit, tax credits or disability living allowance.

A Birmingham resident is classed as anyone who lives in a property that pays council tax to Birmingham City Council.

Established in 2015, Birmingham Community Leisure Trust has been working in partnership with Birmingham City Council to try to revitalise the city’s sport and leisure centres and offer value for money leisure services.

Join any of its 12 Month Direct Debit Contract Memberships today and get the rest of the year FREE by using the promo code ‘Gift’.

Typical costs for gym and classes on a 12 month contracted direct debit are £26.99 per month.

Or it’s £25 for a rolling director debit on swimming.

Centres under the Birmingham Community Leisure Trust umbrella include:

Beeches Pool & Fitness Centre

Beeches Pool and Fitness Centre in Great Barr has a gym, swimming pool, aqua classes, sauna and steam room and a swimming lesson programme.

Stechford Cascades has a gym, three workout studios which host a wide range of workout classes, three pools and a cafe.

Open from 7am-9.30pm weekdays, 8.30am-5pm on Saturdays and from 8.30am to 2pm.

Wyndley Leisure Centre

Opened in 1970, Wyndley Leisure Centre is the largest leisure centre of its kind in Birmingham.

A number of facilities are available at the centre including a main 33m pool, teaching pool, diving boards, eight-lane 400m running track, all weather pitch, sports hall, dance studio, creche and much more.

Open from 6.30am 11pm weekdays and from 8am to 8pm on Saturdays and 10pm on Sundays.